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CHAPTER VIII, 15-22.
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18. Nôsât Bûrz-Mitrô1 spoke these three sayings, that is, Next-of-kin marriage will extirpate mortal sins (marg-argânân), and the sacred twigs when their ablution is such as renders them improper for firewood, and a man when his wife becomes pregnant by him.'
19. Whoever commits a sin against (dên) water, and kills a lizard, or other noxious water-creature, has atoned for it; also when thou atonest to (dên) fire for that against water it is proper 2, and when thou atonest to water for that against fire it is proper; some say that even a scorpion is proper to be killed. 20. And when a sin of one Tanâpûhar3 is committed by him, and he shall consecrate a sacred cake (drôn), or shall accomplish a good work of one Tanâpûhar, it has atoned for it.
21. When he has committed a mortal sin (margargân), and engages mentally in renunciation, and the high-priest (rad) knows that, though he ought to give up his body, he will not give it up, it is allowable when he shall kill him; that is, because he relies upon the beneficence (sud) of Aûharmazd. 22. Moreover, from the rule (man k) ' yazemna kad nâ hakad' ('through being worshipped what then at
5
See Chap. I, 4, note.
A blank space is left for this verb in M6, indicating that that MS. was copied from an original already old and not very legible.
See Chap. I, 1, 2.
• Consecrating a sacred cake is a Tanâpûhar good work (see Chap. XVI, 6). The theory of counterbalancing sins by good works of the same weight is here clearly enunciated.
• Written izimn in the MSS. This quotation appears to be, from some part of the Avesta, no longer extant, and being only the first words of the passage its exact meaning is very uncertain. The section, generally, seems to refer to the beneficence of Aûharmazd.
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